Doncic shines in his return but this rookie makes a fool of the former Madrid player: what a disaster!

The motivation and inspiration of Luka Doncic last night were directly proportional to his avid desire to finally play basketball after half a year, since that damn muscle injury against the Thunder that left him without the playoffs. In his preseason debut with the Lakers, the former real Madrid He enjoyed and enjoyed the victory against the Sacramento Kings (103-127) and up to 21 points in 16 minutes with 5/12 in shooting and 3/9 in triples. Although a rookie took it upon himself to remind him of his eternal defect.

Darius Acuff Jr. number 7 in the last draft, broke the waist of the Lakers star with a skillful deception and then scored from a difficult angle in his face in a magnificent letter of introduction in the best league in the world. To this he added 19 points.

It was the most striking slip of a Doncic with also work to do in the turnovers, with 5 for 3 assists, although the ’77’ left 2 steals to underline that desire and motivation. Without Austin Reaves, the point guard was forced to take full charge.

To the star of 27 years He looked fresh like his new look with that hair that he is letting grow, fast and electric on his legs and sharp in his decision making in one on one, adorning the highlights with that triple after step back that is so characteristic of him and dizzying changes of direction. Domantas Sabonis He suffered one of the Slovenian’s tricks, which thus compensated for the damage done to him on the other side of the court.

Luka Doncic, no longer LeBron James At his side, he played in line with that freer rhythm that the Lakers say they are looking for this year with a style not so based on pick and roll. But these Lakers will need time to fit in so many new pieces, with up to nine new faces to which we must add other significant losses apart from LeBron’s, such as those of Rui Hachimura and Marcus Smart.

Several of those new faces left a very good impression at their premiere. The most, the rookie number 24 in the draft Cameron Carr with 19 points, although Quentin Grimes (16) and Ziaire Williams (13) also left their mark. The new addition that generates the most expectation, Walker Kessler He didn’t play. The Lakers gave the Utah Jazz two first-round draft picks for the center among other assets and signed what must be Doncic’s new favorite pairing in the pick and roll for 4 years and 130 million.

For their part, the Sacramento Kings were satisfied with what he is beginning to show Acuff Jr. with 19 points from the point guard. Nique Clifford was the leading scorer with 23 points on these Kings halfway between the rebuild and their failed previous contender project with veterans like Zach LaVine and Domantas Sabonis still on the team. The audacity with which Acuff Jr. portrayed Doncic is a reason to be excited.